PARIS — Media freedom group Reporters Without Borders said Tuesday it has recorded an increase in the number of journalists killed and imprisoned worldwide so far this year.
The Paris-based group, also known by its French acronym RSF, said 63 journalists died in relation to their jobs from Jan. 1 to Dec. 1, 2018, compared to 55 in 2017, as well as four media workers. Another 13 people it described as “non-professional journalists” — people who didn’t have official media cards but who were involved in the production of news and information — also died, while 348 were held in detention around the world.
“Non-professional journalists play a fundamental role in the production of news and information in countries with oppressive regimes and countries at war, where it is hard for professional journalists to operate,” RSF said in a report.
Of the 80 people in total listed as killed, the group determined 49 were deliberately targeted “because their reporting threatened the interests of certain people in positions of political, economic, or religious power or organized crime.” The other 31 died in the field while reporting, RSF said, adding that the group was investigating a further 10 deaths to determine whether they were related to journalism.